Thread: Satin finish and patina

Get some Crocus cloth, also sold as Plummer’s Cloth, a couple buck per sheet at my local Ace Hardware, sold in fine, med and course. It is sold in sheets and rolls for plumbers for polishing copper pipe for soldering. I bought 9x11 sheets because they did not have the rolls in fine grit.

Crocus is cloth backed Ferrous Oxide, fine is about 1K grit and is different from sand paper and emery cloth, it also last a long time. Don’t toss it out just because it gets dirty, I use it dry. It also leaves a more uniform satin finish than paper or emery.
To get a good satin, you have to get a nice polish then back the finish down to satin, if you don’t it will look unfinished.

After scrubbing with 000 steel wool and WD40, I start sanding at 600 grit, to see what is needed, 600 scratches are easy to polish out but will remove most rust and patina. You can then spot sand with progressively lower grits and work back up.

Beginning at sub 400 makes a lot of work and removes a lot of metal. Sand from edge to spine, over lapping sanding patches, with a curved shaped eraser backer or wine cork, up to 1000. Cut your paper into strips the width of the eraser or cork, with a garage sale paper cutter.

Once you have a nice even finish, leaving pitting if you wish, the grits go fairly quickly. Then sand with fine Crocus cloth, spine to edge. It will leave a very fine satin finish. A paint stir stick cut to about 3-4 inches and the tip sanded to a 45 degree angle makes a nice backer that will give you a lot of control.